Hiked Monday, December 27. Today was a repeat of my Hike 102 from last month. However, when I did that hike, it was overcast and I couldn't see very far. Today, I figured there'd be a nice view of Mt. Baldy, now covered with snow.
I was correct.Repeating my hike to Heaton Saddle would have been even better.
Actually, my original plan for today was to walk the Rincon-Redbox road to Pine Mountain. That would have been nearly 18 miles and about 3,000 feet of elevation gain. However, even though it looks to me like this area is outside of the last map for the Station Fire Recovery order, the sign at the start of the trail said it was still closed.
So I drove back down CA39 to East Fork Road, headed east for about four miles, then took Shoemaker Canyon Road 'til the parking area at the end of the paved road.I only walked to the first tunnel. I did explore a little on a few of the side canyons, but none seemed easy ways up and I wasn't feeling the desire for serious rock scrambling.
All told, it was an easy three miles roundtrip. Nice views, though.
The other good thing about this hike is that, now that I've walked the Heaton Flats trail, I could easily trace that route, from the parking area for Heaton Flats (far below), to the Heaton Flats campground, then up out of the East Fork canyon, through a pass that marks the Sheep Mountain Wilderness boundary, then north, along a ridgeline that provided frequent views back into the East Fork. I could also see Heaton Saddle, where I turned around on Hike 109.
Hey Skyhiker, here's another cool website you might want to check out, although you probably already know about it.
ReplyDeletehttp://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
Nice pictures of Baldy. Must be amazing up there.
I've heard of NASA's picture of the day, but don't go there every day.
ReplyDeleteThe one for today was cool--Looking west, late evening, from Libya. When you move your mouse over the picture, it shows all the constellations. You can see stars down to sixth magnitude, despite the bright lights to the left.
Wow - great pictures, especially the one of Baldy! We've done this one twice - once on a rainy day (we turned back) and the most recent trip, on a slightly overcast day. I'll definitely have to comeback sometime when the weather is clearer.
ReplyDelete